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Indigenous Technology

Abaca fiber is extracted from the leaf stalks of the abaca plant, which is native to the Philippines. There are four main steps to producing abaca fiber: 1) Harvesting the mature leaf stalks, 2) Extracting the fibers from the stalks through tuxying, 3) Allowing the fibers to dry naturally in the sun, and 4) Sorting the dried fibers according to quality. The highest quality abaca fibers are fine, lustrous, light beige in color, and very strong.

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94 views3 pages

Indigenous Technology

Abaca fiber is extracted from the leaf stalks of the abaca plant, which is native to the Philippines. There are four main steps to producing abaca fiber: 1) Harvesting the mature leaf stalks, 2) Extracting the fibers from the stalks through tuxying, 3) Allowing the fibers to dry naturally in the sun, and 4) Sorting the dried fibers according to quality. The highest quality abaca fibers are fine, lustrous, light beige in color, and very strong.

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Aria ne
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Ariane Joyce A.

Quintana BSA 1-1

“ABACA FIBER PRODUCTION”

Abaca (Musa textilis), plant of the family Musaceae, and its fibre, which is second in importance
among the leaf fibre group. Abaca fibre, unlike most other leaf fibres, is obtained from the plant
leaf stalks (petioles). Although sometimes known as Manila hemp, Cebu hemp, or Davao hemp,
the abaca plant is not related to true hemp.
The plant, native to the Philippines, achieved importance as a source of cordage fibre in the 19th
century. In 1925 the Dutch began cultivating it in Sumatra, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
established plantings in Central America. A small commercial operation was started in British
North Borneo (now Sabah, part of Malaysia) in 1930. During World War II, with Philippine abaca
no longer available to the Allies, American production greatly increased. The Philippines remain
the world’s largest producer of abaca.
STEPS IN PRODUCING ABACA FIBER

1. HARVESTING

Abaca fiber is extracted from the leaf sheath around the base of the abaca plant. Harvesting of
abaca stalks usually takes place between 18 and 24 months from the first shoots. When mature, an
abaca plant will have about 12 to 30 leaf stalks, each approximately 12 to 20 feet high. Subsequent
harvest is done at 3 to 4 month intervals.

There are two stages in the harvesting process: (1) topping, when the leaf stalks are cut at the base
of the petiole with a knife or a sickle, and (2) tumbling, when the stalks are tumbled down with
the use of a bolo knife.

After tumbling, the cut stalks are put in a pile, ready for the next step: tuxying.
2. TUXYING

Tuxying is the process of extracting the fiber from the leaf sheaths. A specially-made tuxying knife
is used to make an incision through the inner and middle layer of each sheath, close to the base or
butt end to remove the outer layer.

The strips, or “tuxies”, obtained from this process are then put through a cleaning process, called
stripping, in which all pulpy material is scraped off and the strands of fiber are freed. In the
Philippines, the two common stripping methods in use are hand-stripping and spindle stripping.

Hand-stripping (hagotan) is a simple yet laborious method. The strip, or tuxy, is inserted between
a block and the stripping knife, then pulled with force from the tip end of the tuxy to separate the
fiber from any waste.

The spindle stripping method involves winding the fibers around a tapered-shaped spindle which
is kept in motion by an electric motor or an engine. A spindle stripped fiber tends to be whiter and
more lustrous than a corresponding grade of hand stripped fiber.
3. DRYING

Fibers recovered vary from 1.5% to 2% by weight of the freshly cut stalks. The abaca fibers are
then left out to dry naturally in the sun.

Once the abaca fibers have dried out sufficiently, they are transported to a warehouse where they
are sorted according to quality.
4. SORTING
The best grades of abaca are fine, lustrous, light beige in colour and very strong. The official
standard grades of abaca fiber are divided into three classes depending on the manner of extraction:
hand-stripping, spindle-stripping or decortication. Quality is then determined by colour, texture,
fiber length, strength, and cleaning, which is a direct result of the stripping method and knife used.

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